mance king Barry White all had chart-toppers that
had a particularly sensual quality to them. However,
because of the pop influence that could be heard in
a variety of music markets, the songs not only fared
well in R&B markets but sometimes on Top 40 charts
as well.
Impact In the 1990’s, the soundscape of American
popular music changed in ways that moved beyond
style or genre. Furthermore, toward the end of the
decade, there were also changes in the way in which
music was shared between listeners. The increasing
popularity of the Internet allowed for new musical
artists to reach potential audiences more quickly
than through the traditional means of previous de-
cades and for most of the 1990’s.
The 1990’s also saw genres once on the periphery
of mainstream music commanding a great deal of at-
tention. Country music, especially female artists of
that genre, enjoyed a great deal of success due in
large part to the revamping of country music in
terms of the look of artists and the redesigning, and
redefinition of the country sound. Other genres that
would remain a part of American music culture—
Latin, gangsta rap, and techno music—underwent
significant evolutions in the 1990’s, either by way of
their creation, increased popularity, or ability to
change from the decade’s beginning to its end. Simi-
larly, rock music added subgenres that helped the
aging form maintain its relevance forty years after its
inception.
Further Reading
Bell, Thomas L. “Why Seattle? An Examination of an
Alternative Rock Culture Hearth.”Journal of Cul-
tural Geography(Fall/Winter, 1998): 35-48. Details
the history of the Seattle sound, and how the
youth culture of one region became a cultural
phenomenon.
Harding, Cortney. “Back to the Future.”Billboard
120 (April, 2008): 24-24. Discusses how particular
rock acts of the 1990’s returned to their indepen-
dent roots.
Touré.Never Drank the Kool-Aid. New York: Picador,
- A collection of articles and essays by urban-
music insider and journalist Touré. Illustrates the
real people behind the recordings and artistic
personas.
Dodie Marie Miller
See also Alternative rock; Boy bands; Carey,
Mariah; Censorship; Coffeehouses; Country music;
Death Row Records; Digital audio; Ecstasy; Electronic
music; Grunge fashion; Grunge music; Heroin chic;
Hip-hop and rap music; Internet; Latinos; Lolla-
palooza; Love, Courtney; McEntire, Reba; Madonna;
Milli Vanilli; Morissette, Alanis; MP3 format;MTV Un-
plugged; Nine Inch Nails; Nirvana; O’Connor, Sinéad;
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum; Selena; Shakur,
Tupac; Smith, Will; Tibetan Freedom Concerts;
Woodstock concerts. Myers, Mike
Identification Canadian comedian and actor
Born May 25, 1963; Scarborough, Ontario,
Canada
Myers’s characters onSaturday Night Liveas well as the
Austin Powersspy spoof films became cultural touchstones
for teenagers and young adults in the 1990’s.
A former child actor in commercials, Mike Myers
joinedSaturday Night Livein 1989 and quickly cre-
ated several popular featured characters: Wayne
Campbell, the teenage host of the Aurora, Illinois,The Nineties in America Myers, Mike 599
Mike Myers plays the British superspy Austin Powers in the 1997
film of the same name.(Reuters/Landov)